UTR Meets Lift Assist....Literally

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Tue Jan 29, 2013 11:08 pm

My sweet wife ordered me a lift assist for Christmas. It arrived and was installed this month. It sure does help raising the PowerPro into drill press mode.

Today, I was going to make another pepper mill and mounted the universal tool rest (UTR) and found that the base of the UTR interfered with the bolt heads holding the lift assist brackets on the way tubes. I scabbed together some spacers to raise the base up so that I could move the UTR over close to the tailstock where I needed to work.

So the lift assist and the UTR have been out there for a while, are there any other users that have both items? Anyone else have an interference problem?

reible · Post by **reible** » Tue Jan 29, 2013 11:24 pm

My excuse for not finding this out earlier is that I don't have a lift assist.

For those that don't like finding these things out for themselves might I suggest buying me these parts for testing. Of course I get to keep the TUT's(Tools Under Test).

Ed

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:45 am

reible wrote:My excuse for not finding this out earlier is that I don't have a lift assist.

For those that don't like finding these things out for themselves might I suggest buying me these parts for testing. Of course I get to keep the TUT's(Tools Under Test).

Ed

That's what I thought but it didn't work out that way!:(

damagi · Post by **damagi** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 10:15 am

SDSSmith wrote:My sweet wife ordered me a lift assist for Christmas. It arrived and was installed this month. It sure does help raising the PowerPro into drill press mode.

Today, I was going to make another pepper mill and mounted the universal tool rest (UTR) and found that the base of the UTR interfered with the bolt heads holding the lift assist brackets on the way tubes. I scabbed together some spacers to raise the base up so that I could move the UTR over close to the tailstock where I needed to work.

So the lift assist and the UTR have been out there for a while, are there any other users that have both items? Anyone else have an interference problem?

I haven't tried the UTR since I added my lift assist, but that's good to know. A photo or two would be great if you have them handy.

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 11:29 am

damagi wrote:I haven't tried the UTR since I added my lift assist, but that's good to know. A photo or two would be great if you have them handy.

Here is a picture of my setup with lifts under the UTR base to allow clearance of the lift assist. I am using a jamb chuck in conjunction with the Nova live center.

[ATTACH]20130[/ATTACH]

fredsheldon · Post by **fredsheldon** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:00 pm

How timely. I also have the same issue with my UTR and Lift Assist. Your solution will allow me to move my headstock closer to the tailstock. Thanks for the solution.

greitz · Post by **greitz** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:08 pm

Great idea, Rob! I've just been using a morse taper extension at the tailstock end, but your solution is better, I think.

Gary

reible · Post by **reible** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 11:15 pm

So the solution was to put a ? 1/4" ? piece of plywood down, I can live with that. I might even have a plastic cutting board to use and add some holes for the screws to go though to keep it all together for times when I want to use it near the end.

Glad this was solved already.

Ed

reible · Post by **reible** » Fri May 24, 2013 11:03 pm

After having to deal with the evil lift assist I thought I would give a little update on making up the difference in lost movement to the right end. As was indicted here some of that can be done by a simple spacer that gets above the bolts of the lift assist.

First let's start with what you have on a typical setup. Typical being what I have. The shopsmith live center installed and measuring 2" as shown in this photo.

[ATTACH]21561[/ATTACH]

Extension options include to extend the shopsmith live center by way of the parts that originally came with the lathe duplicator. My lathe duplicator came with one and I added a second one (part number 514704). The extensions add 1-1/2" each or a total of 3". I believe I've read the limit it 2 but I can't find the information to back that up right now.

[ATTACH]21562[/ATTACH]

The result is that you are at 5" at this point. Keep in mind this is just for reference and you really can't use just the point in the real world.

[ATTACH]21563[/ATTACH]

More coming.

Ed

reible · Post by **reible** » Fri May 24, 2013 11:34 pm

Another way to extend is by way of a MT2 extension. This basically a MT2 that fits in the tail stock and allows a live center to be installed in the other end.

One really needs to be careful in what parts you "stick together". We are going to cover that next. Most of the extensions are designed for standard MT2 equipment that is either long enough or has a tang that aligns in the slot in the side of the adapter that helps remove the item being held. Since shopsmith parts are not built that way problems can occur. As an example if you were to use the dead center in the extension it might be in there for the ever more.

[ATTACH]21564[/ATTACH]

So if we take a look at the live center in the view window we also see nothing... meaning it too could end up as a permanent pair. (I placed it just until it started to touch and stopped, it still took some effort to pull back out.)

[ATTACH]21565[/ATTACH]

The nova live center would be a safer bet, as you can see it does go in far enough to be seen and can be driven out. We will come back to this in another post.

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You have been warned but if you do go this route it will add another inch to the reach.

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More to come.

Ed